Coming Unstuck

and the joy of finding a spark.

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Hello, welcome to newsletter No. 23! I’m glad to have you here.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already a subscriber, a fellow follower of all that is exciting and engaging about the world of baking, from whole grains to seasonal fruit and flavour-forward ingredients.

If this is your first time here, you can expect musings, commentary, ideas and inspiration concerning the act and art of baking, including its more esoteric bits and pieces.

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Before we dive into today’s newsletter, I’m wondering how to make more of the many Substack features to bring you more of what you want to see, hear and know about.

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I just found out about #1000wordsofsummer by Jamie Attenberg via Substack Notes, and it was right on time. After a fit-to-bursting few weeks at the bakery, I had begun to feel creatively exhausted with little time to spend on writing each week. It made me question why I was doing it at all, and then the prompt for Day 8 of #1000wordsofsummer landed in my inbox and caught me right before the fall.

‘Today you will write 1000 words. Because if you keep writing, if you dig deep enough, you’re going to find something out about yourself that you didn’t know before. And I want to learn something new about myself, don’t you?’

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So today, I’ve given myself permission to write and contemplate writing as a means of creative expression, a tool for storytelling, a means of sharing information and knowledge, and a way of encouraging and inspiring others to do the same.

I’d never given much credence to my creative writing; growing up, I was persistently academic, obsessed with writing to ‘put the work in’, show ‘studiousness’, achieve the grades and stay on the ‘correct’ path within education systems. Writing for me was factual, the conduit to exemplifying what I knew, what I’d learnt, showing I’d listened; an essay, a report, and a dissertation all served as key performance indicators. Their positively judged outcome was the pinnacle of my validation.

Now I write because I can, because I have autonomy, and it helps me make sense of things. I enjoy the freedom of it; I want the relief that comes when I empty my head of thoughts and organise them in a way that makes sense to me. I enjoy words' aesthetics, shape, sound, form and meaning.

Would I call myself a writer? Not in the popular sense. Is writing a vital part of me and how I navigate the world? Absolutely! And in that, I just found something out about myself that I didn’t know before, and it’s made me want to write even more.

A somewhat plucky and laissez-faire attitude is needed to silence the inner critic who is always willing to stop me from writing here each week for fear of getting it wrong or not having anything worthwhile to say. But words and voice are powerful tools we should enjoy complete control and autonomy over if we can.

They make people feel and think. I know reading and hearing the words of others and feeling and thinking as those words and that voice move through me are essential parts of my day. They need not be ordained as articulate, grand, scholarly or sophisticated. They need to be human. Their effect on me can bring focus, calm, inspiration and reassurance. My baking practice brings about the same things. Words are the bread and the biscuits baked up in the oven of my mind. And sharing them with you is just an extension of that practice.

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A Spark
noun. a small component or technique within another often larger recipe that ignites creativity and resourcefulness in another area of the kitchen.

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A busy bakery is in constant flux; the clock starts ticking as soon as you step across the threshold. I have heard from those who have worked in restaurants and moved to a bakery that the relentless pace of a busy bakery is something else, something that life on the line or an evening dinner service can’t quite prepare you for. That’s not to diminish the intensity of work required in kitchens; this is not a competition, just that if you were expecting a bakery to be more relaxed and less challenging, then you underestimated it.

Much of the work is routine and formulaic; the bread must be baked, it must be mixed, shaped and rested. The delivery must go on time. The pastry dough must be mixed, laminated, shaped, and allowed to prove and bake. The nuances that make these processes enjoyable or not come down to a carefully choreographed dance in which every team member must remember their steps. If we all do, we have a blast and pockets of time emerge in between when we can explore a little solo creativity break. During these moments, sparks fly, and creativity can continue despite the repetition and routine of the day-to-day orders and cleaning schedule.

These sparks can be simple, often unplanned and come about spontaneously, needing something to finish this or that. A glaze, a syrup, a use for something that would otherwise go to waste. One of my favourite sparks from this week is outlined below, a brown butter, honey and frizzled sage concoction that was used to brush almond and apricot financiers. I have no exact quantities to share a truly tested recipe, but luckily it relies on the essential skill of being present for the process, knowing your ingredients, tasting and adjusting to get the flavour and texture you’re looking for.

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Brown Butter, Honey & Frizzled Sage.

When warm, use it as a glaze for small cakes such as Financiers or Madeleines; when left to cool and set in the fridge, it can be spread on rounds of staff toast.

Melt unsalted butter in a small pan and allow to brown, scraping the bottom of the pan to scoop up all the gloriously delicious milk solids. It is a crime to allow these to stick to the base of the pan and then discard them with the washing up.

When the butter is brown and foamy, add fresh sage leaves to infuse it with its savoury green aroma. It will start to frizzle and fry; remove it from the heat and add enough honey to sweeten it to your liking, but not so much that it overpowers the brown butter and sage. Stir to combine, add salt to season and proceed with the desired use.

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